A choir born out of the trenches

Regular contributor Steve Brown is a member of
a Derbyshire choir born out of the WWI trenches. Here’s the remarkable story of the choir’s birth – andits special centenary celebrations.

AT THE END OF 1918, Britain lay triumphant yet exhausted, ravaged by the effects and effort of the First World War, where scarcely a family had remained untouched by tragedy. The patriotic fervour of 1914 had given way to a tired resignationand yet it was against this unpromising background that the Chapel en le Frith Male Voice Choir had its origins. Many ex-servicemen were now living with life-changing injuries and one such was Bert Longson, who had lost both legs below the knees when a German shell had exploded near him in the trenches…